Why is it important to protect digital identities?

Evolving challenges related to identity management in higher education—how digital information about people is handled—have created a need to balance University policies, business processes, and technology to securely connect people with information and each other while protecting a user’s information and privacy. This approach, called identity and access management, is changing how Penn State treats the digital persona of students, faculty, staff, and designated affiliates.

The core components of identity and access management are:

managing person information, including protecting the data and an individual’s privacy

managing credentials

managing access to resources, both those hosted by Penn State and those hosted externally

With identity and access management, each time a student, faculty, or staff member logs into a Penn State website or gains access to externally hosted services (including Yammer at Penn State, lynda.com, and Skillport), the person information—preferred name, address, date of birth, identification numbers, and more—is protected, and his/her identity is secure.

As community members join Penn State, move into new positions, change preferred names, graduate, or retire, IdS is developing ways to maintain their ability to gain access to resources and ensure their information is correct across every computer system at the University.